Paging Heuristics in Packet Based Networks

1. A method of paging a user equipment (UE) from a mobility management entity (MME) in a communication network, where the communication network includes a plurality of eNodeBs that are arranged into at least one tracking area, the method comprising: maintaining, at the MME, a list of eNodeBs from which the UE was actively communicating with the communication network; receiving a page request for the UE at the MME and locating the tracking area where the UE was last registered; determining, at the MME, to apply heuristic based paging in sending the page request to the plurality of eNodeBs in the tracking area; inspecting the page request, at the MME, to determine a category of application for which the page request was issued; determining, at the MME, the delay sensitivity of the category of application; determining, at the MME, a pre-defined priority for handling the page request based on the determined delay sensitivity; selecting a heuristic in paging the UE depending on the priority for handling the page request; sending a first page request to a first subset of the eNodeBs in the tracking area based on the list of eNodeBs from which the UE was last actively communicating; determining, at the MME, if a subsequent page request is sent to a second subset of eNodeBs, wherein determining if a subsequent page request is sent includes waiting a certain period of time for a page response and initiating the sending of the subsequent page request when the certain period of time elapses; sending the subsequent page request to the second subset with at least some different eNodeBs than the first subset, if a response is not received after the first page request; and expanding the number of eNodeBs a page request is sent to until a determination is made by the MME to refrain from sending another page request at that time.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving a paging response at the MME from the UE; and initiating a call establishment procedure from the MME for the UE.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first subset includes eNodeBs from which the UE was last actively communicating and neighboring eNodeBs based on location information.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending a third page request to a third subset of eNodeBs, wherein the third subset includes the plurality of eNodeBs in the tracking area without including the eNodeBs from the first subset and the second subset.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the maintaining of the list includes inspecting messages received at the MME for tracking area identities from which the UE communicated and adding the tracking area identity to the list.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the page request received at the MME is received from a serving gateway (SGW).

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining, at the MME, whether the page request originated from an authorized application; and sending the page request from the MME after determining that the page request originated from an authorized application.

8. A mobility management entity (MME) that communicates with at least one eNodeB in a communication network to page a user equipment (UE), and where the communication network includes a plurality of eNodeBs that are arranged into at least one tracking area, the MME comprising: a storage medium configured to store a list of eNodeBs from which the UE was actively communicating with the communication network; a physical interface configured to receive a page request for the UE where the page request includes the tracking area where the UE was last registered, and to send page requests to at least one eNodeB; and a processing unit configured to run a heuristic for determining to selectively send page requests to the plurality of eNodeBs in the tracking area including initiating a sending of a first page request to at least one eNodeB based on the list of eNodeBs from which the UE was last actively communicating and determining if a subsequent page request is sent to a second subset of eNodeBs, wherein determining if a subsequent page request is sent includes waiting a certain period of time for a page response and initiating the sending of the subsequent page request when the certain period of time elapses, and expanding the number of eNodeBs a page request is sent to until a determination is made to refrain from sending another page request at that time, wherein the heuristic is configured to determine a pre-defined priority for handling the page request based on a determined delay sensitivity of a category of application for which the page request was issued, and to select a heuristic in paging the UE that depends on the priority for handling the page request.

9. The MME of claim 8 , wherein the list includes a set number of eNodeBs, and when the set number of eNodeBs is reached, an eNodeB is discarded from the list.

10. The MME of claim 8 , wherein the heuristic initiates sending a third page request to a third set of eNodeBs, wherein the third set of eNodeBs includes the plurality of eNodeBs in the tracking area without including the eNodeBs of the first page request and the second page request.

11. The MME of claim 8 , wherein the physical interface receives a paging response from the UE and the MME initiates a call establishment procedure.

12. The MME of claim 8 , wherein the first page request to the at least one eNodeB further includes neighboring eNodeBs to the at least one eNodeB based on location information.

13. The MME of claim 8 , wherein the processing unit is configured to process packets received on the physical interface and inspect the messages received at the MME for tracking area identities from which the UE communicated, and the processing unit updates the list with received tracking area identity information.

14. The MME of claim 8 , wherein the page request received at the physical interface is received from a serving gateway (SGW).

15. The MME of claim 8 , wherein the heuristic is configured to determine whether the page request originated from an authorized application and initiate a sending of the page request when the page request originated from an authorized application.

16. A method of paging a user equipment (UE) from a chassis coupled to a communication network, where the communication network includes a plurality of cell sites that are arranged into at least one tracking area, the method comprising: maintaining, at the chassis, information regarding the plurality of cell sites in the tracking area; receiving, at the chassis, a page request for the UE and locating the tracking area where the UE was last registered; determining, at the chassis, to apply heuristic based paging in sending the page request to the plurality of cell sites in the tracking area; inspecting the page request, at the chassis, to determine a category of application for which the page request was issued; determining, at the chassis, the delay sensitivity of the category of application; determining, at the chassis, a pre-defined priority for handling the page request based on the determined delay sensitivity; selecting a heuristic in paging the UE depending on the priority for handling the page request; sending a page request to a subset of the plurality of cell sites in the tracking area based on the information at the chassis including the cell site from which the UE was last actively communicating with the communication network; determining, at the chassis, if a subsequent page request is sent to a second subset of cell sites to locate the UE in the communication network, wherein determining if a subsequent page request is sent includes waiting a certain period of time for a page response and initiating the sending of the subsequent page request when the certain period of time elapses; sending the subsequent page request to the second subset with at least some different cell sites than the first subset, if a response is not received after the first page request; and expanding the number of cell sites a page request is sent to until a determination is made by the chassis to refrain from sending another page request at that time.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the chassis includes a mobility management entity (MME) functionality that initiates paging requests to the UE.

18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising: determining, at the chassis, whether the page request originated from an authorized application; and sending the page request from the chassis after determining that the page request originated from an authorized application.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the information includes location information and activity information.